G8 leaders omit mention of 1967 borders in Middle East statement

G8 leaders omit mention of 1967 borders in Middle East statement

www.haaretz.com

Diplomats involved in Middle East discussions at the G8 summit said Canada had insisted that no mention of Israel's pre-1967 borders be made in the leaders' final communique, even
though most of the other leaders wanted a mention.

"The Canadians were really very adamant, even though Obama expressly referred to 1967 borders in his speech last week," one European diplomat said.

A spokesman for Harper would not comment on the line Canada had taken, saying only that the final communique would make positions clear.

In the final communique, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters,

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.theglobeandmail.com
ca.reuters.com

Oh Canada, what has become of you? Why do you love the Israelis so?

Harper is a disgrace, why was he voted in with a majority?

Abbas & Co, ignore Obama, Netanyahu and the rest who are not interested in a real and just peace.

Since the speeches from Obama & Netanyahu it is now more obvious than ever that the United States cannot ever be an honest broker (Did you all see the Congress reaction to Netanyhau?) and Netanyahu, obviously, has no interest in peace.

Long Live Palestine.

Travel to UN in September and receive the world's backing.

www.haaretz.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Surprising isn't it? Most non Canadians don't know that Canada is just another Israeli puppet, at least since we are under Stephen Harper's conservative government. Our elected government is bought and paid for by the Israelis to say the least. Stephen Harper is a true zionist no doubt. Check this video of him saying Canada must defend Israel at all costs after the flotilla fiasco... my skin crawls each time I see this video.



As for him refusing to mention the pre 1967 borders, it just shows how much of a hardliner he is. I am ashamed that my fellow citizens voted this guy and his political ideals, not only once, but twice. He clearly does not speak for Canadians.I am confident that most Canadians would support a Palestinian state with pre 1967 borders, sanctions on Israel, and at the very least an end to the settlements. Not that you would ever hear our media mention this though.

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


I'm suprised so many people have taken Obama's words seriously. If Obama was truly a fair broker and after a just peace he would withdraw financial and military aid to Israel, stop vetoing every solution put foward in the U.N in regards to the Israel-Palestine conflict and urge both sides equally to negotiate on the basis of a return to the pre-June 1967 borders. This is purely symbolic as elections are approaching. Obama has excited everyone by "killing" Obama(notice the citiation) and now he is romanticizing his image for liberal voters alleging that he wants Israel to negotiate with the pre conditions to a return to the 1967 borders. Benjamin seems to wield significantly more power in the U.S then it's own president and this is shown with the fact that the Israeli lobby in America will never accept a return to the pre-June 1967 borders thus the president is powerless to fight back against being humiliated by Israel's president in his own country.

This was the article released by Haaretz an hour before the article 'G8 leaders omit mention of 1967 borders in Middle East statement' , posted by myself.

Group of Eight leaders will give "strong support" to U.S. President Barack Obama's call for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal to be based on the 1967 borders, the French Press Agency AFP reported on Friday.

www.haaretz.com...

I suppose we will have to wait for the actual statement to be sure.

As for the Canadian-Israeli friendship, that stretches way back beyond the Harper years. I shall post evidence on this shortly.

its blackmail diplomacy.

'If you don't shut your mouth we'll open ours and your truths will hurt far more than ours'

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Canada has always been "friendly" with Israel, but it was never blatantly biased like it is now. Our previous governments would at least sympathize for the Palestinian cause as well. My intention was to illustrate the augmentation of this current government's biased support for Israel. Here are a couple links that prove how one sided our government has become towards the Israeli regime.

canada post

Government of Canada

ETA: Sorry for getting off topic, I was just replying to posts made by the OP.

Probably something to do with The European Union, the United States, Canada, Israel and Japan classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. It's quite simple if you are looking for the logic behind such reasoning and so called "biased" favoritism towards Israel by the majority of Canadians.

Until the nutjobs embeded within Palestine recognize Israels right to exist, they are never going to increase support for their cause but instead create sympathy for the Israeli position, especially when those same nutjobs lob missiles at Israeli civilians.

You can have all your little "zionist this, zionist that" conspiracy theories you want, even though 99% of these theories I've read are completely retarded It still doesn't change the current facts that many of these conspiracy theorists love to overlook.

reply to post by Jocko Flocko


What about the nutjobs in Israel who refuse to recognize Palestine's right to exist. Your logic is not very well thought out my friend. It is a slippery slope you walk on indeed. The 1967 borders most certainly should be part of the bargain if any real peace is ever expected.

ETA: BTW, do you even know what a "conspiracy theory" is? It's not a theory if it is a proven fact. To label someone who mentions something that is clearly fact, does not make them a conspiracy theorist. Did you see that video I posted? How do you feel about Harper defending Israel no matter the cost? Maybe he should defend Canada first no matter the cost and when speaking on behalf of Canadians he should portray how we feel, not his own personal agendas.

reply to post by Jocko Flocko


This is no conspricay theory. The unabashed support of Israel by Canada and the U.S. at any cost, is as clear as day.

Fatah do recognise Isral's right to exist. Fatah are who Israel would be negotiating with, not Hamas.

Hamas by the way have acceded several times to accept a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders which in the real world is a de facto recognition of Israel's right to exist.

Israeli politicans know this. What they want is a recognition of Israel as a 'Jewish State' which it clearly is not due to the 20% of its population that are Arab.

Why would Fatah, Hamas and Co recognise Israel as a Jewish State and sell out the Arab-Israeli citizens?

Some information on the funding of illegal settlements in the West Bank by Canadian Jewish right wing organisations.

Canada's tax system currently subsidizes Israeli settlements that Ottawa deems illegal, however, the Conservative government says there's nothing that can be done about it.

In June of last year, Guelph activist Dan Maitland emailed Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon concerning Canada Park, a Jewish National Fund of Canada initiative built on land Israel occupied after the June 1967 War. Three Palestinian villages (Beit Nuba, Imwas and Yalu) were demolished to make way for the park.

This means Canadian organizations can openly fundraise for settlements Ottawa (officially) deems illegal under international law and get the government to pay up to a third of the cost through tax credits for donations. To justify the government's position, Ashfield cited a September 2002 Federal Court of Appeal case (Canadian Magen David Adom for Israel v. Minister of National Revenue), which reversed the Canadian Revenue Agency's previous position.

In the late 1990s, Israel's largest settler group, Yesha, raised more than $700,000 a year in Canada. When former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited in the mid-1990s, the Canadian Arab Federation's Jehad Aliweiwi said he "left with more than $1 million in tax-deductible funds, with no secret as to the destination." Through the 1990s the Press Foundation was probably the largest known source of funds for settlements, raising as much as $5 million annually for settlers in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron and in the occupied Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria in 1967.

www.counterpunch.org...

reply to post by Peruvianmonk


Thanks for sharing that info on previous Canadian support to Israel, some of that was news to me

Here are some details of Stephen Harper dodging questions from reporters about his role in changing the language of the official statement.

When reporters peppered Harper with demands he explain whether he had objected to any of the language in the statement, the prime minister did not offer a direct answer.

Harper skirted reporters' repeated demands to know what influence he had brought to bear on the final wording, however, going only so far to say the draft communique had omitted several Palestinian concessions suggested in Obama's speech.

I find it funny that even Sarkozky publicly supports going back to the 1967 borders. He must be rounding up votes for the upcoming election LOL.

But in his closing remarks, the summit's host French President Nicolas Sarkozy made it clear the leaders had a significant difference of opinion.

"I think it's appropriate to talk about 1967 borders, because we can't talk about borders without specifying which ones," he said. "I think precisely what made Mr. Obama's speech courageous is that he evoked the 1967 borders."

Ctv.ca

I recommend reading the whole article, it is an interesting read.

PS... sorry if it directs you to the mobile site, I am posting on my mobile phone currently.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


It seems Mr Harper has also faced more criticism from world leaders due to his actions at the summit. He is on European tour and he is hearing about it everywhere he goes. I believe he enjoys playing the role as villain.

At least the citizens of Gaza had that border crossing with Egypt opened so they can get some much needed aid that would not have made it in otherwise due to the harsh Israeli restrictions. Ir is not surprising that Israel would refuse to discuss the 1967 borders because they clearly are not looking for peace. If there were peace, they would have no one to label as terrorists or militants.